The late Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co leader Jason Molina has become one of the most influential artists on current indie rock–especially the indie rock that leans a little bit towards alt-country–so it’s great timing and very exciting news that Run For Cover Records have announced a tribute album to Molina. Titled I Will Swim to You: A Tribute to Jason Molina, it comes out on September 5 and it features covers by MJ Lenderman, Horse Jumper of Love, Trace Mountains, Sun June, Runnner, Sadurn, Advance Base, Hand Habits, Teen Suicide, Friendship, Lutalo, and Another Michael. Pre-order it here.
Here’s a little background on the project, via press release:
The project began when Run For Cover founder Jeff Casazza had lunch with two co-founders of Molina’s longtime record label Secretly Canadian, brothers Chris and Ben Swanson. After Casazza shared with them Molina’s influence on his own life and career, the trio enthusiastically envisioned an album in which artists from the RFC extended universe perform Molina’s songs. “We had the blessing of people who were very close to Jason,” Casazza explained, “and I knew we could do something really cool with an important body of work.”
The first two songs to be released are MJ Lenderman’s cover of Songs: Ohia’s The Magnolia Electric Co. highlight “Just Be Simple” and Sun June’s cover of “Leave the City” from Molina’s first album as Magnolia Electric Co., 2005’s What Comes After the Blues. Molina is someone that MJ Lenderman has been compared to a lot throughout his career, and it should come as no surprise that his cover of “Just Be Simple” is faithful and heart-wrenching. Sun June’s cover is a little different; they tone down the alt-country elements and give it a dream pop twist. Both are great and you can hear them below.
The painting on the album cover was done by William Schaff, who also created the iconic owl artwork for Songs: Ohia’s The Magnolia Electric Co., and 10% of the profits from each record sold will be donated to MusiCares®, “a nonprofit that helped Molina when he was struggling with addiction.” Run For Cover is also putting out a physical-only split 7″ with a never-before-released demo of Jason Molina’s “The Last 3 Human Words” on the A-side and MJ Lenderman’s cover of “Just Be Simple” on the flip.
This tribute album isn’t the only way that Jason Molina’s music is being celebrated this year. Molina collaborator Will Johnson (Centro-matic) and members of Magnolia Electric Co are playing shows and releasing a 7″ in September.
Jason Molina passed away in 2013 of alcoholism-related organ failure, and in 2020, Secretly Canadian released a lost album that he had recorded before his death, Eight Gates. Two years later, the label put out an unearthed Songs: Ohia live album that was recorded in the Netherlands in 2000.
Tracklist
1. Just Be Simple (MJ Lenderman)
2. Blue Factory Flame (Horse Jumper of Love)
3. The Dark Don’t Hide It (Trace Mountains)
4. Leave The City (Sun June)
5. When Your Love Has Gone (Runnner)
6. The Old Black Hen (Sadurn)
7. Everything Should Try Again (Advance Base)
8. Lioness (Hand Habits)
9. Whip Poor Will (Teen Suicide)
10. Hard To Love A Man (Friendship)
11. Shadow Answers The Wall (Lutalo)
12. The Farewell Transmission (Another Michael)